Safety ski binding



Nov. 8, 1966 M. B. RUMANER 3,284,092

SAFETY SKI BINDING Filed March 16, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. 57) 59 MERWIN B. RUMANER 5 5 BY film WKQMM Nov. 8, 1966 B. RUMANER SAFETY SKI BINDING Filed March 16, 1964 5 SheetsSheet 2 KLMQWKQWL Rm mm mm 2 W W 0 0:?

m flv H K m W /v mm L Nov 8, 1966 M. B. RUMANER SAFETY SKI BINDING Filed March 16, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR.

MERWIN B RUMANER United States Patent Ofiice 3,284,092 Patented Nov. 8, 1966 3,284,092 SAFETY SKI BINDING Merwin B. Rumaner, 310 Albert Road, Syracuse, N.Y. Filed Mar. 16, 1964, Ser. No. 351,908 7 Claims. (Cl. 280-1135) This invention relates generally to safety bindings for attaching ski boots to skis, and has particular reference to a releasable boot heel retaining device of novel construction.

Safety ski bindings are intended to serve a twofold purpose, e.g., to hold the ski boots firmly attached to the skis during normal skiing activities and to permit the boots to be released from such attachment when the pressure or strain between boot and ski reaches a point at which injury to the skier is likely to result if a release is not effected. While a number of excellent safety bindings have been developed heretofore, the emphasis has generally been on swivel ty-pe binding devices which allow the boot to release laterally when the-re are excessive rotational strains. Unfortunately, some of the more popular swivel devices do not always release the boot under an excessive upward strain such as may be caused by a forward fall and many injuries still occur due to falls of this type.

The present invention contemplates, and has as its primary objective, the provision of a releasable boot heel retaining device that can be used in conjunction with most of the well known swivel type toe and heel retaining devices and materially increases the safety of same by permitting the boot to be released under excessive upward strains unaccompanied by such rotational strains as would normally cause the swivel devices to release. In one of its most important functions, the heel retaining device of the invention thus complements presently available devices to render the complete binding more safe. In another important function, the heel retaining device can be utilized as a self-contained heel retaining unit, without the addition of a swivel heel retaining device, as will be understood from the description to follow.

In addition to its primary objective of providing greater safety in ski bindings, the invention has as another important object the provision of a highly versatile device capable of being utilized in a number of different ways for skiers of all degrees of ability.

A further important object of the invention is to provide a boot heel retaining device that is of relatively simple construction and at the same time is strong and durable.

Another important object of the invention is to provide a boot heel retaining device that can be economically produced and marketed.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of a ski binding, including a heel retaining device embodying the invention, with a ski boot fastened therein;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary side elevation on a reduced scale showing the releasing action of the heel retaining device of the invention;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged top plan view of the heel retaining device of FIGURES l and 2;

FIGURE 3A is a fragmentary rear elevation of a detail of the heel retaining device looking in the direction of line 3A-3A of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged vertical sectional View taken substantially along line 4-4 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a vertical sectional .view taken substantially along line 5-5 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 6 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially along line 6-6 of FIGURE 3;

7 FIGURE 7 is a top plan view of a slightly modified form of cam member;

FIGURES 8 and 9 are a bottom plan view and a side elevation respectively of a key used to operate the cam member of FIGURE 7;

FIGURE 10 is a fragmentary top plan view of a modified form of the invention;

FIGURE 11 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially along line 11-11 of FIGURE 10;

FIGURE 12 is a fragmentary top plan view of another modified form of the invention;

FIGURE 13 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially along line 13-13 of FIGURE 12;

FIGURE 14 is a top perspective view of a cam actuator for the cam member of FIGURE 12;

FIGURE 15 is a perspective view of another modified form of the invention;

FIGURE 16 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially along line 16-16 of FIG. 15;

FIGURE 17 is a top plan view of another modified form of the invention;

FIGURE 18 is a perspective view of still another modified form of the invention;

FIGURE 19 is a perspective view of a screw retaining member used with the device of FIGURE 18;

FIGURE 20 is a top plan view of a plate and boot engaging device for use with the heel retaining device of the invention;

FIGURE 21 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken substantially along line 21-21 of FIGURE 20; and

FIGURE 22 is a top plan view of still another modified form of the invention.

Having reference now to the drawings, wherein like reference numbers designate the same part in each of the views, and with particular reference to FIGURES 1-6, reference number 25 designates a fragmentary portion of a ski to which the binding is attached. The binding shown comprises a conventional toe retaining device 26 and the heel retaining device of the invention generally designated 27, a boot 28 being fastened in the binding in FIGURES l and 2. Toe retaining device 26 may be any one of a number of known devices which are swivelly mounted to permit the boot toe to swing laterally in either direction out of engagement with the device under a severe rotational strain. As is well understood in the art, the toe retaining device is usually provided with means to regulate the amount of pressure required to effect the swivelling action.

The heel retaining device 27 is essentially comprised of an elongated plate 29 adapted to be positioned on the ski beneath the heel of the boot, and forward and rear plates 30, 31 releasably engageable with the front and rear ends of plate 29. Plates 30 and 31 are fixedly secured to the ski as by screws 32. In the embodiment of FIGURES 1-6, elongated plate 29 is formed at its front end with a pair of spaced upstanding ears 33 and plate 30' is formed with a pair of corresponding cars 34. Each car 34 is formed with a rounded projection 35 While the cars 33 are formed with rdished or rounded indentations 36 in which the projections 35 are noramlly received as best shown in FIGURES 3 and 6.

At its rear end, plate 29 is formed with another pair of spaced upstanding cars 37 each having a rounded indentation 38. Plate 31 is formed with a corresponding pair of ears 39 and on the back side of each ear there is a boss 40. Slidab-ly mounted in horizontal bores 41 through the cars 39 and bosses 40 are a pair of plungers 42 having rounded forward ends which normally extend into the indentations 38, see FIGURES 4 and 5. Each plunger is formed near its rear end with a reduced diameter portion which fits into the slotted end, FIGURE 3A, of a spring strip member 43 made of a material such 0 as spring steel.

rear plate 31, and in the angular position shown in FIG. 3 the side of the cam bears with a slight pressure against the spring strip 43, the pressure at all times being sufficient to maintain the plungers 42 in the bores 41. Cam 44 may be provided with an operating lever 46, and it will be M seen that as this lever is turned in the direction of arrow A in FIGURE 3, the side of the cam will exert increasing pressure on the spring strip 43 until the point of maximum pressure is reached after the cam has been rotated 180 from the position shown. Increasing the pressure on the spring strip causes the forward ends of the plungers 42 to be urged into tighter engagement with the indentations 38 and at the same time urges the projections and indentations 35, 36 into tighter engagement at the front end of plate 29 because the latter is connected to the ski only by its engagement with the forward and rear plates 30, 31. A friction washer 47 is interposed between the cam and plate 31 to hold the cam in any position of pressure adjustment to which it is moved.

In the embodiment shown in FIGURES 1-6, a known type of turntable or swivel heel device is mounted on the elongated plate 29. Device of this type are disclosed in US. Patents Nos. 2,836,428, 3,009,710 and 3,100,119 to H. Marker and per se play no part of the .present invention. The turntable comprises a round central portion 48 affixed to plate 29 (not to the ski) as by screws 49 and an outer boot engaging portion 50 which can turn relative to the central portion 48 and plate 29. The outer portion 50 of the turntable is provided with a substantially conventional boot heel engaging mechanism or tightening device comprising springs 51 and a toggle type locking lever 52 (FIG. 17) which operate in a well known manner. If the skier desire a still more rigid attachment between his boot and the turntable, he can utilize long leather straps 53, familiarily known as long thongs, which are threaded through loops 54 on the turntable and wrapped around the boot in the manner shown.

Since the upstanding ears 33, 34 on the plates 29, 30 raise the forward portion of the ski boot slightly above the upper surface of the ski as indicated in FIG. 1, a thin shim plate 55 can be mounted on the ski beneath the sole of the boot as by screws 56 so that the boot is firmly supported throughout its length.

As will 'be apparent to those familiar with the art, the binding just described will permit the boot to be released under an excessive rotational strain because of the action of the swivel toe retaining device 26 and the heel turntable 48, 50, both of which are of conventional design. In addition, and in accordance with the invention, the boot will :be released under an excessive upward strain such as might be caused by a forward fall even through the fall is unaccompanied by any undue rotational stresses. 7

Thus, in a fall tending to pitch the skier forward the boot heel tends to be lifted off the ski, and if the strain is sufiiciently great it will overcome the spring biased holding action of the plungers 42 allowing the ears 37 at the rear end of plate 29 to become disengaged therefrom whereby the back end of the plate is lifted off the ski with the boot. When this happens, the forward projections and indentations 35, 36 become disengaged also, releasing the front end of plate 29 so that the entire plate and boot are free from the rest of the binding and ski as indicated in FIG. 2. In this connection, it will be understood that the heel retaining portion of the binding urges the boot forwardly into engagement with the toe retaining portion so that releasing the heel as above described automatically results in the boot being disengaged from the toe device. For this reason, it is contemplated that a boot-to-ski safety leash (not shown) will be employed in connection with the invention to prevent a runaway ski when the binding releases.

As previously indicated, the amount of upward strain or pressure required to effect the above described release can be controlled by the cam member 44, the angular position of which controls the amount of pressure exerted by the spring strip 43 on the plungers 42, which in turn determines the amount of force required to disengage the rear end of plate 29 from the plungers. The position to which the cam is adjusted will depend on a number of factors such as the ability and weight of the skier, the type of ski activity undertaken, the terrain, skiing conditions and so forth. In this connection, however, it should be noted that an important feature of the heel retaining device of the invention is that the adjustment of the boot heel engaging mechanism or tightening device is completely independent of the releasing mechanism. Thus, if a skier wishes to use long thongs 53 and/ or adjust the springs 51 so that there is virtually no play between his boot and the turntable, he can be assured of a binding that is extremely rigid under all normal conditions and yet have the protection of the independent release mechanism under excessive pressure conditions that could result in an injury.

FIGURE 7 illustrates a slightly modified form of cam member 44 which is adapted to be adjusted by a separate key 57, FIGURES 8 and 9, rather than by an integral lever as shown :at 46 in FIGURE 3. To this end, the cam is provided with a slot 58 in its top for receiving spaced lugs or teeth 59 at the end of the key whereby a turning movement of the key operates to change the position of the cam.

FIGURES 10 and 11 illustrate a modified form of the heel retaining device of FIGURES 1-6 in which there are no upstanding ears on the fixed forward plate 30' and front end of the elongated release plate 29'. Instead,

the :front edge of the plate 29 is provided with rounded or dished indentations 60 and plate 30' is formed with rearwardly extending rounded tabs 61 which project into the indentations to releasably connect the front end of plate 29' to the ski as previously described. This arrangement has the advantage that the interconnecting means are flush with the upper surface of the plates and the shim plate 55 shown in FIGURE 1 can be omitted. The rear end of plate 29' is like the rear end of plate 29 and engages a fixed rear plate 31 in the manner described in connection with FIGURES 1-6. In addition, plate 29' supports a turntable 48, 50 as previously described.

FIGURES 12 and 13 illustrate another modification of the invention wherein the forward as well as the rear fixed plate is provided with cam and spring pressure adjustment means. Thus, the forward plate 30" carries plungers 42', a spring strip 43' and a cam member 44" similar to those shown on the rear plate 31 in FIGURE 3. Cam 44" is provided with a plurality of circumferentially disposed holes 62 and is adapted to be adjusted by a separate pin 63, FIGURE 14, having a reduced diameter end portion 64 which can be inserted in any of the holes 62 to change the angular position of the cam.

FIGURES 15 and 16 illustrate a further modification of the invention in which a substantial rotation of the previously described turntable 48, 50 will cause an upward release of the elongated plate 65. Plate 65 is provided with upstanding front and rear ears 66, 67 each of which is formed with a dished indentation 68. The ears 67 are engaged by a fixed rear plate 31 (not shown) in the manner described in connection with FIGURES 1-6. The turnable portion 50 of the turntable includes substantially conventional laterally projecting members 69 to which springs and long thong rings can be attached as indicated in FIGURES 1-3. In this arrangement, the forward fixed plate 70 is provided with an upstanding flange 71 at its front edge, the flange being formed with rounded projections 72 for engagement with the indentations 68 in ears 66 as shown in FIGURE 16. Flange 71 is also formed with an arcuate cam surface 73 which merges at its ends with the upper surface of plate 70, and the ears 66 are located and dimensioned so that the tops thereof are disposed below this cam surface.

In the modification of FIGURES and 16, if an excessive rotational strain causes the portion 50 of the turntable to be turned far enough so that the horizontal front edge of either of the members 69 engages the cam surface 73, continued turning will cause member 69 to ride u the cam surface. As the member 69 moves upwardly on the cam surface it will lift plate 65 with it causing the projections 72 and indentations 68 to become disengaged and effecting a complete release of the plate 65 from the ski. In this manner, the construction described enables a complete release under an excessive rotational strain unaccompanied by any undue upward strains of the type previously described, and an arrangement of this type may be very desirable under certain circumstances.

FIGURE 17 illustrates a modification in which the rear fixed plate 31 is the same as that shown in FIGURES 1-5 and the elongated release plate 75 is provided with upstanding ears 76 engaged by plungers 42 in the manner previously described. At its front edge, plate 75 is formed with indentations 77 engaged by tabs 78 on the forward fixed plate 79, the forward interengaging means being the same as that shown in FIGURES 10 and 11. Unlike previously described modifications, however, the fixed plate 79 extends forward to a point beyond the front of the ski boot (not shown) and has fixed thereto a toe retaining device 26'. With this arrangement, only six screws 80 are needed to secure the entire binding to the ski. FIGURE 17 also illustrates how other than a turntable heel engaging means can be used, the tightening device (comprising previously described spring 51 and locking lever 52) being directly connected in this modification to the elongated release plate 75 through upstanding ears or lugs 81 formed integrally with the plate. If desired, plate 75 can also be formed with longitudinally extending reinforcing ribs 82 as shown.

FIGURE 18 illustrates a modification of the invention that is particularly adapted for use by ski rental shops. In this modification, the elongated release plate 84 is provided with upstanding ears 85 at its rear end and indentations 86 in its :front edge for engagement respectively with plungers and tabs corresponding to the plungers 42 and tabs 78 of FIGURE 17. The heel engaging means or tightening device, comprising spring 51 and a locking lever (not shown), are connected to a slide plate 87 having downwardly and inwardly turned side flanges 88 that form channels for receiving guide ribs 89 on the side edges of plate 84. Lugs 91 project laterally from the slide plate 87 to provide a means for securing the springs 51 thereto.

The slide plate $7 can be positioned at a number of different positions along the plate 84 to accommodate ski boots of different sizes. To this end, plate 84 is provided with a plurality of tapped holes 91 that are spaced longitudinally of the plate and a flat headed screw 92 is threaded into a selected one of the holes as shown. The head of screw 92 is formed with a fiat edge 93 as best shown in FIGURE 19 and this bears against the rear edge of the slide plate to hold it in the desired position. Means are not needed to prevent forward movement of the slide plate since the force acting on the plate when the tightening device is clamped around the boot is in the rearward direction.

FIGURES -22 illustrate other forms of boot heel engaging means which can be used with the heel retaining devices of the invention. For example, instead of using a turntable 48, 50 as shown in FIGURES 3, 10, 12 and.15, the skier may wish to use the less expensive arrangement of FIGURE 20. This comprises a plate 94 having holes 95 which register with the holes provided in plate 29 for the turntable screws 49, see FIG- URE 3. Thus, the plate 29 can accommodate either a turntable or the simpler plate 94 arrangement without the necessity of drilling additional holes in any of the parts. As shown in FIGURE 20, the sides of plate 94 are formed with lateral projections or lugs 96 to which bolts 97 for the springs 51 are connected, the heads of the bolts being received in countersunk bores 98, FIG- URE 21. The projections 96 extend outwardly beyond the sides of the elongated release plate to which the plate 94 is secured as indicated in FIGURE 22, the purpose being to permit widthwise accommodation of any ski boot.

FIGURE 22 simply shows a variation of the FIGURE 20 arrangement for use when a'djustability for different boot sizes is desired as when the binding is used in conjunction with ski rentals. In this variation, plate 94 is used with an elongated release plate 100 having upstanding ears 101 at its rear edge and indentations 102 in its front edge for engagement with fixed rear and front plates in the manner previously described. Plate 94 has a pair of holes which register with corresponding pairs of holes 104 in the plate 100 thereby enabling it to be secured as by screws 103 to plate 100 at the proper location thereon for the size of ski boot to be used with the binding.

From the foregoing description, it will be apparent that the releasable heel retaining device disclosed herein provides an important added safety factor for any ski binding with which it may be used. In addition, the device of the invention is high-1y versatile, having a variety of different applications, and at the same time is of a relatively simple, economical construction.

As will be understood by .those familiar with the art, the invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristios thereof. The embodiments disclosed are therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative rather than restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a safety binding for releasably attaching a ski boot to a ski: a releasable boot heel retaining device comprising a substantially flat elongated plate adapted to be positioned on the ski beneath the heel of the boot; means on said plate for connecting it to the boot; a second and a third plate fixed to the ski adjacent the front and rear ends respectively of said elongated plate; coacting means on said second plate and said elongated plate to releasably connect the front end of the elongated plate to the ski; and coa-cting means on said third and said elongated plate to releasably connect the rear end of the elongated plate to the ski; said -last-named means including corresponding upstanding means on said elongated and third plates, a pair of spring biased detents slidably mounted in the upstanding means of said third plate and engageable with the upstanding means of said elongated plate, and a single adjustable cam member operable to vary the spring pressure acting on the detents.

2. A heel retaining device as defined in claim 1 wherein the coact'in'g means on said second plate and said elongated plate comprise dished indentations in the front edge of the elongated plate and rearward'ly extending hounded tabs on the rear edge of the second plate projecting into said indentations.

3. A heel retaining device as define-d in claim 1 wherein the coacting means on said second plate and said elongated plate comprise corresponding pairs of upstanding ears on the plates, the ears on one of said plates having dished indentations and the ears on the other of said plates having rounded projections extending into said indentations.

4. A heel retaining device as defined in claim 1 wherein the coacting means on said second plate and said elongated plate comprise corresponding pairs of upstanding ears on the plates, the ears on said second plate supporting spring biased detents and the ears on said elongated plate having dished indentations in which the ends of said detents are received.

5. A safety binding as defined in claim 1 wherein said second plate extends forward to a point in front of the 7 ski boot and supports a toe retaining device engageable with the toe of the boot.

6. In a safety binding for releasably attaching a ski boot to a ski: a releasable boot heel retaining device comprising a substantially flat plate adapted to be positioned on the ski beneath the heel of the boot; means on said plate for connecting it to the boot; means fixed on the ski forward of said plate for releasable engagement with the front end of the plate; and other means fixed on the ski for releasable engagement with the rear end of the plate; said plate having at the rear end thereof a pair of spaced upstanding ears, each of said ear-s having a dished indentation therein; said other means including an additional plate having a pair of spaced upstanding ears confronting the ears of the first-named plate, a plunger mounted for horizontal sliding movement in each ear of said additional plate, the forward ends of said plungers being adapted to be received in said indentation-s, a spring strip extending transversely of the ski and connected at each end to the rear end of one of said plungers, and a cam member rotatably mounted on said additional plate with its cam surface bearing against said spring strip at the approximate mid-point thereof, said cam member having means for adjusting its angular position whereby the amount of pressure exerted by said spring strip on said plungers can be selectively controlled.

7. In a safety binding for releasably attaching a ski boot to a ski, a releasable boot heel retaining device comprising an elongated plate adapted to be positioned on the ski beneath the heel of the boot, a first connecting means fixed to the ski forward of said plate for releasable engagement with the front end of the plate, a second connecting means fixed to the ski rearwardly of said plate for releasable engagement with the rear end of said plate, turnable means mounted on said plate, means on said turnable means for connecting it to the boot whereby the latter when so connected can turn relative to the plate in a plane parallel thereto, said connecting means including normally laterally projecting members, and cammi-ng means on said first connecting means, said camming means being engageable by one of said laterally projecting members when said turnable means is turned relative to said plate and being operable to raise the tu-rnable means and front end of the plate from the ski thereby releasing the plate from engagement with said first connecting means.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,094,667 10/1937 'Parish 28011.35 2,836,428 5/1958 Marker 280-1135 3,009,710 11/1961 Marker 2 801l.35 3,100,119 8/1963 Marker 28011.35 3,145,028 8/1964 Cubberley 280-11.35 3,201,140 8/1965 Marker 28011.35

FOREIGN PATENTS 215,869 6/ 1961 Austria. 1,309,985 10/1962 France.

126,223 6/ 1928 Switzerland.

134,284- 10/1929 Switzerland.

BENJAMIN HERSH, Primary Examiner.

MILTON L. SMITH, Examiner. 

1. IN A SAFETY BINDING FOR RELEASABLY ATTACHING A SKI BOOT TO A SKI: A RELEASABLE BOOT HEEL RETAINING DEVICE COMPRISING A SUBSTANTIALLY FLAT ELONGATED PLATE ADAPTED TO BE POSITIONED ON THE SKI BENEATH THE HEEL OF THE BOOT; MEANS ON SAID PLATE FOR CONNECTING IT TO THE BOOT; A SECOND AND A THIRD PLATE FIXED TO THE SKI ADJACENT THE FRONT AND REAR ENDS RESPECTIVELY OF SAID ELONGATED PLATE; COACTING MEANS ON SAID SECOND PLATE AND SAID ELONGATED PLATE TO RELEASABLY CONNECT THE FRONT END OF THE ELONGATED PLATE TO THE SKI; AND COACTING MEANS ON SAID THIRD AND SAID ELONGATED PLATE TO RELEASABLY CONNECT THE REAR END OF THE ELONGATED PLATE TO THE SKI; SAID LAST-NAMED MEANS INCLUDING CORRESPONDING UPSTANDING MEANS ON SAID ELONGATED AND THIRD PLATES, A PAIR OF SPRING BIASED DETENTS SLIDABLY MOUNTED IN THE UPSTANDING MEANS OF SAID THIRD PLATE AND ENGAGEABLE WITH THE UPSTANDING MEANS OF SAID ELONGATED PLATE, AND A SINGLE ADJUSTABLE CAM MEMBER OPERABLE TO VARY THE SPRING PRESSURE ACTING ON THE DETENTS. 